some things never leave
by Etirdoyn
Summary: a non-linear tale of an au wherein Charlie Weasley is reborn as Sakura and he's not even concerned with being a girl because he's full of absolute horror that there apparently are no dragons in ninjaland
1. Chapter 1

AKA crack taken seriously - er, well, _somewhat_ seriously. Occasionally.

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 _ **what is:**_ one does not simply walk to Kiri

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"Hey, Sakura, not that I want you to become a rival or anything," Ino added hurriedly before going on with her question, "But why don't you like Sasuke-kun? He's amazing!"

Charlie thought about saying something about how weird - and likely _illegal_ \- it'd be for him, currently reincarnated into a seven year old girl or not, to be crushing on a child before discarding the idea. Until he managed to make something of a wand, he really had no _proof_ and besides that, Ino was a curious child who'd want to know _everything._

He shrugged instead, "I don't really care for that kind of stuff."

" _Fiiiine._ " the girl drew out, half a whine and half an irritated huff, before shoving a book at him. "Here, I found something - page one hundred and twenty four." She promptly started combing her fingers through her hair as if to get rid of the notion that she actually read.

"Thanks." Charlie told her in an amused huff and Ino flashed him a brief smile, blond hair flipping over a shoulder.

"Who else would spend their _lunch_ in the library looking up fake creatures? Admit it, I'm _amazing!_ " she told him, mock-haughtily.

Flipping through the book for the page indicated, Charlie obediently said, "You're amazing, Ino."

He didn't listen for a response, focusing instead on the the book when he finally reached the indicated page. It was short, barely three pages and entirely undetailed like a dragonology textbook, but it _did_ speak of dragons- well, _dragon_ to be specific.

Mizuchi was an old water dragon whose nesting grounds were located in the reefs of the island that now housed Kirigakure, the dragon had returned from a hunt out in deeper waters to find that humans had settled on his island. Of course the dragon took offense to his island being invaded but the then-leader of the shinobi clan who had settled there managed to appease and even _befriend_ Mizuchi, something that eventually lead to the dragon teaching the clan how to create a dragon out of water.

"Ino this is _brilliant_." Charlie told her. Because it was, there had to be some truth to the myth - had to be some reason for there to be talk of a dragon. Maybe if he went he could track down myths until he found the origin? "I _have_ to go to Kiri."

"You're seven." Ino told him with all the bluntness of a child who thinks someone is being stupid. She went on to override his weak protest of _I'm almost eight!_ by saying, "You haven't even graduated from the Academy yet, only _really good_ shinobi can sneak into other hidden villages. And you'd _have_ to sneak in because Kiri _hates_ us and would sooner kill you then let you within _a hundred kilometers_ of their village."

"Okay." he said before she could go on about how it was a terrible idea. "But there have to be other dragon-related jutsu besides _Suiryūdan_ and they may have their own myths about how they came to be."

Ino paused, "Actually…I think the Uchiha have a fire dragon jutsu. Though they may have used the Sharingan to copy it from the Sarutobi. Anyways!" She said, standing. "It's about time to get back to class."

It stuck with him though and Charlie found himself going through the rest of the day in a haze, something that was _really_ inadvisable given that their class were doing spars today. It wasn't surprising to find himself on his back, at least not to him, the blond whose punch he didn't dodge was certainly surprised. And concerned, _loudly_ so. "Oh no! Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to-!"

"I'm fine," Charlie said, dragging himself into a sitting position as the blond boy flailed.

He stood, staggering for a moment while the boy fluttered nervously before shaking himself and taking up his fighting stance once more. "Okay. Again."

"WHAT!" the boy flails before crossing his arms into an 'x' and shaking his head rapidly. "Nonono _no! Nu-uh!_ No way! I could hurt you Sakura-chan!"

 _This_ was perhaps the one thing Charlie hated about his new body, for some reason a range of people were exceedingly _gentle_ with him. As if he were glass or a stiff wind would make him kneel over and it was, honestly, _exasperating_.

"Fine. You should defend yourself though." he tells the boy before charging in. It's with conflicting feelings of guilt and exasperation that Charlie knocks the boy down in a simple leg sweep. He looks down at the boy, arms crossed, "Will you fight me properly _now_? Or do I need to ask for a different partner?"

"NO!" the boy shrieks, popping up from the ground like a Spring-Legged Frog hunting an Atlantean Dragonfly. "I can fight! You don't need to get a new partner Sakura-chan!"

"As long as you fight me seriously," Charlie tells him, "Then I won't have need for anyone else." The boy's face glaze over, face turning red and all Charlie can manage is an internal, bewildered, _...what the fuck..?_


	2. Chapter 2

_**what was:**_ or how to kill a wizard

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From the very moment that he went to Romania to work with dragons, Charlie's mum had been afraid of him dying because of them - whether it be at a dragon's teeth, claws, flames or even just it's sheer _bulk_ squishing him - and always made sure to remind him that he could always find a job back in the UK at the Ministry, where it was _safer_. When that inevitably failed, because if there was one thing that he and his siblings got from their mother was how _stubborn_ they could all be when they got an idea in their head, his mum would flutter about him, tell him she loved him thrice, to be careful twice and then, before she left, make him promise to be as safe as he could be.

Where his mum thought he'd die because of a dragon, his brother believed the same if for completely different reasons.

Bill, mainly because of a surprise (to _him_ at least, since his older brother wouldn't have ever been allowed on the reserve's lands without the boss' approval) visit, knew that poachers were a problem. That, for however dangerous a nesting mother dragon could be, there were still those out there greedy and reckless enough to raid nests for eggs - some skilled and cunning enough to even _succeed_ \- and that, while it wasn't technically their job, everyone who worked on the reserve would do everything in their power to keep eggs from being stolen.

So, yes, Bill also believed Charlie's death would be because of dragons but because he was trying to protect them from people who aimed to do them harm.

It was amusing, perhaps only morbidly so, that Charlie died for neither of these reasons. His death was no tragedy that would be used to warn future reserve workers about how to interact with the dragons, nor was it a heroic tale of saving eggs from a poacher to be passed on during the cold nights that had them all clustering around the fireplace in the mess hall with its solemn, nostalgic air that lead to the older workers to talk about the past. That's not to say that people at the reserve wouldn't talk about it, he was absolutely certain it would be a few years before his death stopped being told to the new workers.

When Charlie died, it's an accident and it's completely _stupid._ It is also because one of the rookies that were added onto the reserve's workforce - mostly to compensate for the sudden boom in eggs being laid and nesting spots being fought over that left them understaffed and overworked - decided that he, who had not been there for a month yet, knew better than the person training him. Charlie burns in a fire that has nothing to do with dragons and everything to do with a prideful, idiotic little _shitfucker._

He burns one moment and it seems like the very next he is drowning.


	3. Chapter 3

_**what is:**_ a handful of worms

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" _What are you doing?_ "

Charlie jerks at the sudden question, feet slipping in the mud and before he knew it he's on his back with a handful of worms and staring at a wide-eyed blond girl whose nose is wrinkling in disgust. Then he realizes that he just landed on the ground, in the mud, and sighs in resignation of the lecture that he'd be given once he went home. His mother was somewhat resigned to him not being the cleanest of children, even accepting of it at times as they'd since struck a deal of him being able to go out as he did so long as he got _properly_ cleaned when necessary, but his hair was an entirely _different_ matter apparently.

"...hi." He says, when he eventually remembers the girl. "Can I help you?"

" _No_!" The girl tells him immediately, which would be rude if she didn't follow it up with an apology. "Nonono- _I'm_ sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! Let me-" She glances at his worm-holding hand and her nose wrinkles further in disgust but she continues anyway, moving around to his front and offering a hand to him. "-help you."

He glance at his free hand, covered in mud, and wonders if he should accept the offer when he'd just get her dirty. Though rejecting could also insult her when she already offered help. "I'm dirty." He says instead of making a choice, content with laying in the mud now that he's _already_ there and just feel the worms wriggle in between his fingers as they attempt to get free.

The girl's mouth twitches in what could have been a smile or a smirk, "I _noticed_. Now are you going to take my hand or _not_?"

 _Well_. He grabbed her hand, letting her pull him up to his feet. "Thanks."

She nods and says with the bluntness of a child, "You're really _filthy_. You should take a shower."

"I will, later." Charlie tells her, looking at his handful of worms with a squint before he decided that it was _probably_ enough for now. "I have something to do first. Bye." He says, turning and walking further into the treeline and away from the park.

" _Hey_." The girl says, following him. She walks beside him, though not close enough to touch and with care to be on the side not holding the worms. "You never answered my question." He glanced at her, blinking before he focused back on the path ahead of them. "What are you doing?"

He steps over a fallen branch before answering, "Walking. I _was_ gathering worms earlier."

She makes a huffy, frustrated kind of noise and Charlie tries not to smile at how much it reminded him of a young Ginny being denied another sweet. "I _saw that_. I want to know _why_ you got all those worms."

Charlie _could_ answer her, but she was already walking with him and they were practically there. "Shhh, be quiet." He says instead, turning left abruptly once he passed a tree stump and carefully squeezing past two thorny bushes. He side steps a sizable rock and walks three more strides before laying on his stomach and crawling under a bush.

" _What_ -" the girl starts, tone irritated but he shushes her. " _Shh_. Just- _watch_." Charlie inches a pit more forwards, to see beyond the bush and tugs his hair ribbon to spread it out for him to dump the worm on. That done, he lets out a series of clicks and waits.

Half a minute later, a badger hobbles out of a hole on three legs. " _Oh_." The girl says softly as he starts tossing the injured badger worms.

When he had found Tonks - his friend had named a _fish_ after him, there's no reason he can't name a badger after her - the animal had let him close enough to help it with it's injury but after that first meeting it refused to let him approach it. Tossing it food that it had trouble getting with it's injury, however, was fine.

"Can I-?" the girl asks and he turns to look at her.

Her nose is wrinkled still, obviously disgusted at the worms, but otherwise she looks firm and soft - mostly, though, she looks _determined_. "Yes." He tells her, "You don't have to get them right at it's feet, walking around a bit will help it get used to moving without that limb." She nods, bites her lip as she reaches and grabs a worm then tosses it in a nice arc. As Tonks shuffles a few steps to get the worm, Charlie says, "My name's Sakura."

The girl beams at him, "I'm Ino!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**what was:**_ fish

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" _OI! Egg-for-brains!_ " The shout was loud enough to be hear all the way across the hall and he just knew several people were turning to look at the person shouting.

 _At least,_ Charlie sighed, wanting nothing more then to just - lay his head down on the table and pretend _really hard_ that he wasn't there. _She's moved on from 'kitty litter' as a nickname._

"I have an actual name, Nym." He grumbled halfheartedly as his friend took the seat across from him, the person who was sitting there moving out of her way quickly. Nymphadora Tonks, after all, had already proven that she would absolutely shove someone off the bench to create an open space for herself if necessary.

"Nope." She said cheerfully, swiping all the bacon from his plate despite there being a plate of bacon within reach. "You gotta find a new one, I gave yours away."

That stalled him for a moment. "What. What does that even _mean_? You can't just... give my name _away_."

"Can. Will. _Did_." Nym told him smugly in between eating all of his bacon and stealing his toast. "You, sir, need to figure out a new name for yourself. I have _suggestions_." She added, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

Charlie was instantly on guard. "No. Whatever it is, _no_. I can think of my _own_ name." It wasn't until she laughed at him that he realized that he implied that she actually was able to give away his name and huffed. "Not that. I _need_ one. Because I don't. Just... if I needed a new name I could pick it out on my own."

" _Suuuure._ " She drew out, completely smug but at least not laughing anymore.

He shook his head. "What makes you say that anyways?"

"I made a new friend," Nym said, after finishing off his toast...he really should eat his breakfast faster. "His name is Charlie. Which means that you can no longer be Charlie."

"What. That's not a good reason!" He sputtered. "People share names all the time! There's only so many names to use, of course there's going to be multiple people with the same name! I'm sure there's even plenty of people with the same first _and_ last names!"

She waved him off. "I don't care about them. What I care about is the fact there is only enough room in my life for one Charlie and I am sorry to say that it's no longer you. So, we gotta figure out a new name for you."

" _No_." Charlie said, pointing at her and getting an exaggerated pout. He was almost completely sure that she had used her ability to make her eyes larger to fit the look. "Do I get to at least _meet_ this 'other Charlie'?"

Nym's face lit up with glee and he immediately regretted asking.

"Why, _of course_." She said, digging into her robes before pulling out a bag full of water. Inside the water was a small goldfish swimming around. "Meet Charlie, the Golden."

This time, Charlie did lay his head down on the table. "...why are you like this?"

He got no answer, only cackles.


End file.
